Women Deliver 2019

In 2016 Denmark had the pleasure of hosting the Women Deliver conference. They embraced every moment and held a month long celebration of events, coming up with concrete solutions that are still in place today. Canada will be hosting the next Women Deliver conference in 2019 and although they have big shoes to fill, if the words of Minister Bibeau and Madame Sophie Trudeau are to be taken to heart, they are up and excited for the challenge.

Katja Iversen from Women Deliver

Passing the Women Deliver Baton

Madame Trudeau & Princess Mary

Serious but Fun

Although Women Deliver deal with serious, often times difficult, subjects; they were determined to make the event fun and interactive. The whole team composed mainly of women, arrived at the UNGA checkpoint to be escorted through UNGA security to the Delegates Dining Room to set up for the activities. These included an interactive Ideas Wall where guests could leave their suggestions on topics they would like to see discussed, and speakers they would love to hear at WD2019. The responses ranged from Lady Gaga to Malala Yousafzai. We also set up a selfie station with fun props and a polaroid camera. It was a major hit and the guests got some great memories to take home with them.

WD2019 Idea Wall Kit

Minister Bibeau & the Ideas Wall

Minister Tørnaes of Denmark

Passing the Baton

Half way through the evening there was an actual passing of the baton (the Women Deliver arrow) from Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark to Madame Trudeau. The wonderful speakers included Katja Iversen, Minister Tørnaes, Minister Bibeau, Madame Trudeau and two young leaders, Dakshitha and Olaoluwa Abagun. They all spoke passionately about how we, as a society, treat our women and girls and as Sophie Trudeau said, “We need to be held accountable for telling the truth and the truth is we can’t leave out half the population”. It is up to us, all of us, to work harder and do better.

UN Delegates Dining Room

Jessica and Julie-Ann having fun

The JME Team – Women Deliver Stage

Investing in Girls and Women

It’s events like these that remind us here at J Marshall Events why we do what we do. When people get together and work together we can achieve all our goals. As Katja Iversen reminded us all, “When you invest in girls and women, there is a ripple effect and everybody wins”. We here at J Marshall Events want everyone to win!

A heart-wrenching documentary

The film by Patrick Farrelly and Kate O’Callaghan profiles the life and struggles of Jaha Dukureh, who was named one of 2016 TIME magazine’s, 100 Most Influential people. It is a remarkable, heart-wrenching documentary that shows how one person can make a difference. Originally from The Gambia, Jaha is now leading an African movement fighting to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced child marriage.

Struggles and Accomplishments

We were excited to be back at the UN and ECOSOC, a venue that J Marshall Events has become very familiar with over the years. The film was a resounding success bringing tears to many as the guests followed Jaha’s struggles and accomplishments.

Jaha Dukureh at the Q&A

Jaha’s Promise standing ovation

Discussion and Q&A

After a standing ovation, Jaha’s Promise was followed by a lively panel discussion and Q&A with Jaha Dukureh and the filmmakers who discussed issues that continue to affect women and girls around the globe. It was inspiring to hear directly from Jaha about her experiences and intentions going forward.

Jaha, Maggie O’Kane and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

Kate O’Callaghan

Patrick Farrelly and Jaha Dukureh

Reception and Speakers

In addition to the New York premiere screening, J Marshall Events helped organize the pre-screening reception in the West Terrace of the Delegates Dining Room. Hosted by the Wallace Global Fund, Ellen Dorsey introduced a short program of speakers including Scott Wallace, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Ambassador Mamadou Tangara.

It was a lovely event and we look forward to working with the participants again in the near future, and continuing to support the causes J Marshall Events believes in!

A few weeks ago J Marshall Events (JME) had the honor and pleasure of organizing the launch event of Equal Measures 2030 in New York. EM 2030 is a non-profit partnership between nine organizations working towards ensuring that the gender equality goals of 2030 are met. By organizing data and evidence, they will engage with decision makers by highlighting where the gender gaps lie and if quantifiable progress is being made.

Expect the unexpected!

The event was originally to be held the previous evening, but had to be cancelled when Winter storm Stella closed down most of New York. Rescheduling the event with less than 24 hours notice proved to be an unexpected challenge. We had to rebook the venue and vendors, change the catering and even hire new staff. Fortunately, J Marshall Events is used to last minute changes and we thrive on the unexpected! What was intended to be an evening reception became a luncheon, and despite reduced transportation around the city, we had a great turnout.

The Equal Measures 2030 Team

Culinary Treat

Set in front of the beautiful snow covered balcony at Scandinavia House, the launch embodied the very spirit of global collaboration that Equal Measures 2030 is striving for. Our canape buffet of stuffed grape leaves, lamb kofte, s’mores on a stick and English tea platters, courtesy of Between The Bread, took our guests on a culinary international treat!

Despite the snowy setbacks, which only added to the camaraderie in the room, we at J Marshall Events had a wonderful time and stand 100% behind the goals of Equal Measures 2030. We look forward to supporting the organization and working with their wonderful team again in the near future.

For the third year running J Marshall Events was thrilled to meet students from Sunderland University in the UK, who were in New York City as part of their BA (hons) Event Management course. The final year students were visiting NYC to conduct research on events held in Manhattan. They took in Broadway shows, comedy gigs and a basketball game, whilst researching advertising methods and the use of social media.

HOPE Sculpture NYC

East River NYC – Students & Bridges

Central Park – Students in Wonderland

Eventful Discussion

We met at the W Hotel, Union Square and chatted about my experience in event planning and running an event production company in New York. Various topics were discussed including, what the students want to do when they graduate, how to gain more experience in events and what future employers might be looking for.

2017 group shot at the W Hotel

The 2016 visit with Julie-Ann & GG

Meeting and Mentoring

It’s always great meeting young people to offer encouragement and advice and it’s especially fun interacting with, and mentoring, students from the UK. I’m already looking forward to seeing Alyssa Brown, University of Sunderland’s Senior Lecturer again next year and we’re already thinking about the 2018 study trip.

Amazing Projects

2016 was a busy year, and the J Marshall Events team was thrilled to work on many amazing projects. We provided event planning and production services to multiple clients, including, audio visual, webcasting, banners, event staff, technicians, staging, floral and many more resources. Here's a brief rundown of events from the later months of last year. It was an eventful 2016.

JAM, Chernor Bah & Aissatou Mia

UniChef Speakers

Legal Scholars Against BDF

Adolescent Neuroscience Symposium

A meeting and live webcast to present the current state of science on the Adolescent Brain. Discussions included how the environment and experience sculpts the function of the brain.

Conversations with Thought Leaders

A live webcast with speakers from around the world focusing on girls’ needs on MHM barriers. Channeling girls’ recommendations into global and national level action.

Conversation with Darren Walker

Adolescent Brain Attendees

Bruce Fagin & JAM at Good Dog Bash

The Good Dog Foundation’s Annual Bash (at Barneys)

A fundraiser held in Freds restaurant at Barneys. The Good Dog Foundation provides therapy dog services to people in health care, social service, educational and community facilities in New York, and at disaster sites around the country. We were also honoured to become a part of the Good Dog family in 2016 when our very own Georgie Girl became a certified Good Dog Foundation Therapy Dog!

Annual Fall Benefit

J Marshall Events was honored to team up with Harboring Hearts to assist with their Annual Fall Benefit. A non-profit organization Co-Founded by Michelle Javian and Yuki Kotani, Harboring Hearts provides financial and moral support to families of those receiving cardiac treatments.

JME worked closely with Michelle, Katherine Ronberg and the Harboring Hearts team for almost 7 months which culminated in an exciting event at the fabulous Core Club in Manhattan. The program included live music, honoree awards, a silent auction, speeches and a specially produced video.

Guests, Sponsors and Honorees

The almost 200 guests included families who have received Harboring Heart’s support, sponsors of the Foundation and Honorees, Constance Milstein and Dr. Hiroo Takayama. The show was hosted by the charming Ryan Serhant (Million Dollar Listing, While we’re Young) and an effervescent Dr. Mehmet Oz (The Dr. Oz Show) stepped in to emcee the electronic fundraising component powered by Givergy (formerly Daana).

Music and Desserts

The evening wound down with a couple of songs from Tony Award Winning performer, Nikki James. However, the guests were having so much fun enjoying the performance along with the amazing dessert donations that the doors remained open for quite a while longer.

Compassion and Resilience

It was a long production day but a very moving experience to be surrounded by people with such compassion and resilience. Harboring Hearts has helped many families of all ages and through support and donations will continue to do so for many years.